Arizona Cardinals: Remembering Week 17 of the 2003 season
By Sion Fawkes
Things get real interesting…
With just one timeout remaining, the Arizona Cardinals had no choice but to try for an onside kick. And after a short scrum, Damien Anderson came up with the loose ball to give the Cardinals a chance at winning this thing outright.
On the next play, McCown slipped as he dropped back, but kept his footing. He found Ryan Johnson downfield, but the pass fell incomplete. However, a blatant defensive pass interference call moved the Cardinals deep into Vikings territory on what was a 30-yard penalty.
On first and ten, McCown had all day to throw the ball, and he found running back Emmitt Smith, who took the ball to the 26 yard line. On second and five, McCown stayed hot, finding Nathan Poole for a first down inside the Vikings red zone near the 12 yard line.
Smith took the ball to the nine on the next play, but on second down, Vikings rookie defensive tackle Kevin Williams sacked McCown to force third and long. On third and 14, things didn’t get any easier as the Vikings strip-sacked McCown.
Arizona caught a break and got the ball back on fourth and 24. With no timeouts left and not another down to spike the ball, the Cardinals were forced to rush back to the line of scrimmage for one last play. And that’s when the unthinkable happened.